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UMBERLAND, the "Queen City of the Alleghenies," is environed by scenes of picturesque beauty and grandeur which are perhaps not appreciated to their fullest extent by the people who live their lives amid these scenes and are accustomed to mountain heights and streams, but the visitor and stranger cannot fail to be deeply impressed by the splendid views which greet the eye on every side; varying from the quiet dell and the placid flow of the Potomac's waters to the rugged magnificence of the "Narrows" through which flows Will's Creek, in the channel made thousands of years ago by Nature's self. It is a notable place. Once seen it will not be forgotten. On either side rise the rugged rocks to an altitude which justly entitles it to the flattering description given it by the greatest of the English novelists, William Makepeace Thackeray, in the "Virginians." One of the characters of this famous book, George Warrington, in his story of captivity among the French and Indians, after Braddock's defeat, in describing his escape and homeward journey, says: "The last day's march of my trusty guide and myself took us down that wild magnificent pass of Will's Creek, a valley lying between cliffs nearly a thousand feet high-bald; white, and broken into towers like huge fortifications, with eagles wheeling round the summits of the rocks and watching their nests among the crags. hence we descended to Cumberland, whence we had marched in the year before, and where there was now a considerable garrison of our people. Oh, you may think it was a welcome day when I saw English

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colors again on the banks of our native Potomac."

The picture is well drawn, and the century and a half of years which have backward rolled into the past since then have not lessened the natural beauty of the scene. The eagles have disappeared and so has the English flag, but the wild magnificence of the castellated rocks remains. Through the narrow defile below them the march of civilization to the westward has continued even until now. Around and about it linger legend and story of the old town by the creek and riverside; of the savages who dwelt there, of their loves and hates; of the coming of the "Pale Face" and the gradual disappearance of the Indian race; of the leap of the savage lover for the sake of the maiden of his choice; of the Indian Chieftain, "Will," and many kindred themes.

The Indian and his struggles against the Pale Face are but memories now, and the white man has taken possession; the region has developed, and the hidden treasures of coal, with which the mountains above are rich, have made Cumberland and the George's Creek Valley a populous territory.

The "Narrows," Will's Creek and Will's Mountain have ever had attraction to some of our people in every generation, bearing near the verge of veneration. Especially may this be said of that part of the scene lying to right as we stand at the entrance of the "Narrows" looking to the westward, and which bears the name of Will's Mountain, or as it has been named of late, "Baehr's Heights." Many of those who

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are now at life's meridian can remember in the years subsequent to the Civil War, in the time of their youth and early manhood, they climbed to the summit and visited the post office," beneath "Lover's Leap" rock. Here for some years had been accumulated the missives which had been deposited by the more venturesome of the visitors. This collection, however, has been destroyed, but among them was found an effusion, evidently written by a bibulous creature, which has been preserved in one of the local newspapers. It runs as follows: "It is sweet to climb this hill. "Tis sweet to have this view; but sweeter, better still, afterward to drink your fill of lager at Sebastopol."

From the earliest times of the settlement of this section of Maryland, a part of Will's Mountain seems to have been cultivated, but much of the original clearing has been allowed to lapse into wilderness and no permanent habitation seems to have prospered there. Some twenty years ago, however, a German named Frederick Baehr, a man of peculiar temperament and indefatigable energy, took up his abode in the old hut near the cliffs and worked for several years in clearing the ground and building a

tramway by which he intended to take visitors to the top, and in making other improvements. He devised many plans by which he intended to make accessible to strangers what he considered one of nature's grandest pictures, but his limited means and eccentric habits prevented his success. In time he removed and the place reverted to its original conditions. The steep road became a gully and few ventured up to the summit save lovers of nature and now and then a strange mortal who desired to find within sight of the busy city, quiet, silence, death and a grave. To those, however, who desired to commune with nature and view her panorama, the place has had allurements and charms.

Recently, however, an enterprising citizen of Cumberland who has been interested in this historic spot from boyhood days, commenced the erection of a hotel or club house which is now nearing completion, and is expected to be finished for the coming summer season. The plans of the "Inn" are beautiful, and those people who visit mountain resorts, wanting to feel the sensation of magnificent depths and distances, will find this spot particularly to their liking.